Week 7 ~ IDP Starts and Rankings – You Down with IDP?

Injuries are just tearing up the IDP fantasy landscape this season, including what seems like an unusually high number of the season-ending kind, for prominent players. We already lost guys like Brian Urlacher, Leodis McKelvin and Stewart Bradley for 2009, now this week we had a few more. Bengals sacks leader and top three fantasy defensive lineman Antwan Odom has a torn Achilles tendon. The Browns top line backer, D’Qwell Jackson is on the IR with a shoulder injury. The Chicago Bears have once again lost Pisa Tinoisamoa, and will require knee surgery. The Seahawks have lost Lofa Tatupa to a torn chest muscle, and after losing Bradley, the Eagles have now lost his replacement, Omar Gaither to an ankle injury.

The Seahawks also lost DE, Patrick Kerney indefinitely, and the Vikings have lost DB Antoine Winfield indefinitely as well.

The Eagles made about the only trade at the deadline. picking up Will Witherspoon from the St. Louis Rams. When Gaither stepped in to replace Bradley he did very well, fantasywise, so Witherspoon may be worth a look if you’re strapped at linebacker.

In place of Tatupa, the Seahawks will once again look to LB David Hawthorne. For those that recall, in week three when Hawthorne subbed for Tatupa, he had 16 tackles (15 solo) a pass deflection and an interception. He was the fantasy LB of the week. Most people are not paying attention because of the bye week, so snag him now.

For the Browns, they will turn to rookie Kaluka Maiava to fill Jackson’s mighty shoes. When he stepped in last week after D’Qwell’s injury he put up 6 tackles and a forced fumble, so he may be worth a look. Another potential replacement in Cleveland is another rookie, David Veikune.

On the bright side, the Steelers welcomed their star defensive player, Troy Polamalu back last week, and next week when the Seahawks return to action they should have DB Marcus Trufant back. Finally, the Colts get their stub DB, Bob Sanders back. Check the free agent pool for him.

–Week 7 IDP – Start ‘em–

–Defensive Linemen–

Andre Carter, WAS – Carter has been unusually productive so far this year. He’s still available in more leagues than he should be based on his top 5 DL performance so far. He makes a solid replacement for Odom, and he has a nice match up this week vs. the Eagles.

Is the Long wait over?

Chris Long, STL – Long has been the word to describe this kid’s road to fantasy prosperity. So far this season Long has been in a 3-man rotation at DL for the Rams, but James Hall’s injury (yes, yet another) opens the door for Chris to play fulltime.

Michael Johnson, CIN – With Odom out Johnson and Robert Geathers have to step up. Johnson has more upside.

Charles Johnson, CAR - With Julius Peppers playing so well, he’s been getting tag-teamed. That means more seams for Johnson to slip through.

Justin Smith, SFO – Smith has sucked this season, but he should own Houston this week. It may be his best game of the season.

Will Witherspoon, PHI - As mentioned above, he steps right in for the Eagles. Look for him to try and prove his value in his first game.

Clay Mathews, GBP – Another rookie starting to make noise. He had 3 tackles, 2 sacks and a pass deflection last week.

Chase Blackburn, NYG – Michael Boley’s injury opened the door for Blackburn who had 8 solo tackles and a sack last week.

–Defensive Backs–

C.C. Brown, NYG – Is it possible for terrible to be good? Drew Brees took advantage of Brown’s horrendous play last week, and Brown ended up with a dozen solo tackles and 2 pass deflections. I would pick him up for use against another pass happy QB this week, but his value should be short lived.

Leon Hall, CIN – You remember the guy who tipped the ball to Brandon Stokely in Week 1 and caused the Bengals to lose the game on one of the freakiest plays of the season? That was Hall, who has been quietly redeeming himself ever since. This week he faces Jay Cutler. Nice match-up.

About Kurt Turner

Kurt's fantasy advice is featured on USA Today Sports, Bleacher Reports, SiriusXM and Fox Sports. He is the owner of FantasyKnuckleheads.com and has been butchering topics here for over 15 years. Follow him on Twitter

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